With University fees rising and the cost of postgraduate education increasingly out of reach for many Nigerian families, a financial services firm has shed light on a planning tool that most Nigerians rarely consider: the education trust fund.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings hosted a live session themed "Education Trust: Building a Lasting Education Legacy," streamed across its YouTube, Facebook, X, and Instagram platforms, bringing together estate planning experts to break down how education trusts work and who they are actually for.
Titilope Adeleye, an Estate Planning Officer at Stanbic IBTC Trustees, explained that an education trust is a structured arrangement where funds are set aside and professionally managed to cover educational expenses over time, with the key distinction that the funds continue to serve the beneficiary even if the contributor is no longer alive or able to contribute. Unlike a standard savings account, the trust is designed to grow through investment, offering more protection against the kind of inflation that has eroded the value of naira savings in recent years.
Oluferanmi Olorunleke, Head of Estate Planning, addressed what he described as a widespread misconception. Education trust funds, he said, are not exclusively for wealthy families. Individuals can begin with modest amounts and build consistently towards a defined goal, provided they appoint competent trustees and give clear instructions on how funds should be managed. He warned against common pitfalls, including irregular contributions, vague directives, and failure to account for rising education costs.
For tertiary students and their families, the session raised a practical question worth taking seriously: given the unpredictability of school fee increases, exchange rate pressures on those planning to study abroad, and the general instability of household incomes in Nigeria, a structured education fund may offer more security than informal saving arrangements that are vulnerable to being redirected in a financial emergency.
The experts noted that trusts can also be structured to support multiple generations, meaning a fund started today could cover not just a current student but their children as well.
